INDIE REVIEW RADIO/ MONTY ROSS / INDIE FILM

INDIE REVIEW RADIO

Monty Ross, Spike Lee's former producer and co-producer on such groundbreaking Made in NYC productions as School Daze, She's Gotta Have it, Do the Right Thing, Jungle Fever, Malcolm X and Crooklyn, started his career with the Atlanta Street Theatre, a small resident theatre company in Atlanta, Georgia. He moved to NYC to pursue his career in 1985, quickly partnering with Lee, as the Production Supervisor on the legendary 12 day shooting schedule of She's Gotta Have It. Ross credits the film with launching his career. Over the next 17 years, his roles at 40 Acres and a Mule Productions were multi-faceted, from Production Assistant to Vice President of Production; in 1991, Ross even starred in the Lee, student Academy Award winning film: Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop - We Cut Heads. While co-producing a film each year, he also produced ad campaigns for brands such as Nike's Air Jordans and Levi's 501 campaign, as well as music videos for artists such as Stevie Wonder and Prince. He worked on the NYC production Inside Man, starring Denzel Washington, Clive Own and Jodie Foster, which was Lee's highest grossing film to date. Ross, before returning to serve as 40 Acres' Special Project Coordinator, along with Adam C. Powell, III, Adam C. Powell, IV and Geoffrey Garfield, produced the bio film on the legendary Harlem, NY Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. The film, Keep The Faith Baby, starred Vanessa Williams and Harry Lenox. Additionally, he also, directed and produced 2 nationally televised syndicated docs, Welfare to Work, hosted by Nia Long and After Affirmative Action, hosted by Malcolm Jamal Warner which aired in over 100 hundred markets. While at 40 Acres, he coordinated the company's community outreach including its internship program, through which 40 Acres staged a boot camp providing a week of training and networking opportunities placing interns in various departments during the production of each of its films.